Hamas, Arafat Seen At Odds

May 10, 2002|By Steven Erlanger The New York Times

JERUSALEM — The latest suicide bombing, of a pool hall and slot-machine parlor near Tel Aviv, was aimed not only at Israelis but also at the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, whose credibility as a peacemaker was further tarnished, Palestinian officials and analysts say.

The radical Palestinian group Hamas, which has very different public aims than Arafat's Palestinian Authority, took responsibility for the bombing in a statement to Lebanese television but has not repeated the claim. Nor has it denied responsibility.

But those around Arafat say they have no doubts that the bomb, which was very powerful and killed 15 Israelis, and the bomber, who is reportedly from the Gaza Strip, both belonged to Hamas.

Bassil Jabr, a key member of the Palestinian Authority, said that "the Hamas attack is directed not just against Arafat but the entire Palestinian nation" and its aspirations for peace.

"The main political interest of Hamas these days is the same as Sharon's," Jabr said. "Both are trying to do their best to prevent any progress in the peace process and to get rid of Arafat."

Hamas, a fundamentalist Islamic organization with extensive charitable as well as military units, firmly opposes any peace with Israel.

Hamas and its spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, based in Gaza, want an Islamic state "from the river to the sea," they say -- from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, including the current state of Israel.

But Arafat, fearful of confronting Hamas or starting a Palestinian civil war, has tended to try to co-opt the radicals rather than defeat them. During the current intifada, units Arafat does or should control, such as the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, have engaged in the type of suicide bombings Arafat now condemns.

Arafat has chosen to try to lead the intifada, some aides say, in part to prevent Hamas from taking his people and his power away. But Hamas at least has the virtue of consistency. Arafat, who has maneuvered between politics and terrorism, is inevitably considered to be disingenuous when he says that the time to renounce terrorism has come again.

Hamas appears determined to undermine the Palestinian leader as long as he pursues a quest for peace with Israel and its prime minister, Ariel Sharon.

"Arafat is collateral damage, whether he was intended to be the target or not," said Ziad Abu Amr, a political scientist and politician in Gaza. "The perpetrators know that Israel will take Arafat and the Palestinian Authority as the primary target."

Under severe pressure to move credibly against terror, Arafat on Wednesday made a strong statement in Arabic, televised throughout the Arab world, ordering his Palestinian security services "to confront and prevent any terrorist operations against Israeli civilians by any Palestinian party" -- including Hamas -- "parallel to confronting any aggression on Palestinian civilians from the Israeli army and Jewish settlers."

At the same time, Yassin promised that the attacks on Israeli civilians will continue no matter what Arafat says. "When they harm and hurt Palestinian civilians, their civilians will be harmed," he said.

What seems clear today is that Hamas has undercut Arafat and the chances for peace talks while providing Sharon with a new reason to pursue military action.

For Hamas, whose goal is the destruction of the Israeli state, anything that turns the Palestinian people against a negotiated peace with Israel or harms Arafat is all to the good. Hamas gains from Palestinian anger, humiliation and disgust with Arafat, while it also gains from Arafat's humbling internationally.

To act against Hamas, which is popular for standing up to the Israelis, Arafat must show some political future to Palestinians, Abu Amr and Jabr said.

"With international will and the prospect of a state, Arafat can act against those who oppose the interests of the majority, like Hamas," Jabr said.

"But without a political promise or hope for the Palestinian people, it will be hard for him to fight these people when we ourselves are being attacked by the Israelis."

After all, said Abu Amr, "Why should Arafat start a civil war for Sharon, who offers Palestinians nothing at all?